Reminder:  The peculiar quotation marks in this chapter indicate that Amos did not inscribe this book.  The inscriber, unknown to us, is quoting Amos.

הוֹי הַשַּׁאֲנַנִּים בְּצִיּוֹן וְהַבֹּטְחִים בְּהַר שֹׁמְרוֹן נְקֻבֵי רֵאשִׁית הַגּוֹיִם וּבָאוּ לָהֶם בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל׃   6:1

Amos 6:1   “Alas, the secure ones in Zion,

                             and the confident ones on the mountain of Samaria!

                     Appointees of the best of nations,

                             and they, the house of Israel, would go to them.”

The seventh word נְקֻבֵי, translated by me as appointees of, is found only here in the bible, and the meanings of its root -- which is a verb -- can be to pierce, to appoint, to designate, and to curse   For other appearances of the root word and how it is translated, see Numb. 1:17 (next-to-last Hebrew word in the verse) and 1Chr. 12:31 (sixth-from-last word in the verse).

עִבְרוּ כַלְנֵה וּרְאוּ וּלְכוּ מִשָּׁם חֲמַת רַבָּה וּרְדוּ גַת־פְּלִשְׁתִּים הֲטֹובִים מִן־הַמַּמְלָכֹות הָאֵלֶּה אִם־רַב  6:2 גְּבוּלָם מִגְּבֻלְכֶם׃

Amos 6:2   “Pass to Calneh and look,

                              and go from there to the great Hamath!

                     Then go down to Gath of the Philistines!

                              Are they better than these kingdoms?

                     Or is their territory greater than your territory?”

Calneh and Hamath were cities in Assyria that were destroyed after the time of Amos, so he must be referring here to an earlier incident of which we have no knowledge.  The pronoun they in the fourth line seems to refer back to the appointees or the well-to-do of Zion, (or Samaria).  And the pronoun their in the fifth line would appear to refer to the three pagan cities mentioned in this verse.

הַמְנַדִּים לְיוֹם רָע וַתַּגִּישׁוּן שֶׁבֶת חָמָס׃   6:3

Amos 6:3   “You who are putting the day of misery far away

                                as you bring the seat of violence near,

הַשֹּׁכְבִים עַל־מִטּוֹת שֵׁן וּסְרֻחִים עַל־עַרְשׂוֹתָם וְאֹכְלִים כָּרִים מִצֹּאן וַעֲגָלִים מִתּוֹךְ מַרְבֵּק׃   6:4

Amos 6:4   who are lying on beds of ivory,

                                and spreading out on their couches,

                     and eating lambs from the flock

                                and calves from the midst of the stall,

הַפֹּרְטִים עַל־פִּי הַנָּבֶל כְּדָוִיד חָשְׁבוּ לָהֶם כְּלֵי־שִׁיר׃   6:5

Amos 6:5   who, making music on the mouth of an instrument,

                                invent for themselves implements of song like David,

הַשֹּׁתִים בְּמִזְרְקֵי יַיִן וְרֵאשִׁית שְׁמָנִים יִמְשָׁחוּ וְלֹא נֶחְלוּ עַל־שֵׁבֶר יוֹסֵף׃   6:6

Amos 6:6   imbibing in bowls of wine,

                               would anoint themselves with the choicest of oils,

                     yet are not sickened by the ruin of Joseph!”

לָכֵן עַתָּה יִגְלוּ בְּרֹאשׁ גֹּלִים וְסָר מִרְזַח סְרוּחִים׃   6:7

Amos 6:7   “Therefore, now they shall go into exile

                               at the front of the captives,

                      and the revelry of the unrestrained

                               shall come to an end.”

נִשְׁבַּע אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה בְּנַפְשׁוֹ נְאֻם־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי צְבָאוֹת מְתָאֵב אָנֹכִי אֶת־גְּאוֹן יַעֲקֹב וְאַרְמְנֹתָיו שָׂנֵאתִי   6:8 וְהִסְגַּרְתִּי עִיר וּמְלֹאָהּ׃

Amos 6:8   “’The Master, the Lord, has sworn by Himself,’

                                declares the Lord, God of hosts,

                     ‘I am He Who ‘abhors’ the pride of Jacob,

                                and ‘hates’ his palaces,

                      so I shall deliver up the city

                                and its entire contents.’”

וְהָיָה אִם־יִוָּתְרוּ עֲשָׂרָה אֲנָשִׁים בְּבַיִת אֶחָד וָמֵתוּ׃   6:9

Amos 6:9   “And it shall be, though ten persons remain in each house, that they shall die.”

וּנְשָׂאוֹ דּוֹדוֹ וּמְסָרְפוֹ לְהוֹצִיא עֲצָמִים מִן־הַבַּיִת וְאָמַר לַאֲשֶׁר בְּיַרְכְּתֵי הַבַּיִת הַעוֹד עִמָּךְ וְאָמַר   6:10     אָפֶס וְאָמַר הָס כִּי לֹא לְהַזְכִּיר בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה׃

Amos 6:10   “When one's uncle lifts him up -- and who would have been burned with him -- to bring the bones out of the house, then he might say to anyone who had been in the innermost recesses of the house, ‘Are yet any with you?’ And he says, ‘It is over.’ Then he would say, ‘Be silent,’ so as not to mention the name of the Lord,

כִּי־הִנֵּה יְהוָה מְצַוֶּה וְהִכָּה הַבַּיִת הַגָּדוֹל רְסִיסִים וְהַבַּיִת הַקָּטֹן בְּקִעִים׃   6:11

Amos 6:11   when behold, it is the Lord Who commands,

                                   then He shall smite the greater house to fragments

                        and the lesser house into a hole.”

הַיְרֻצוּן בַּסֶּלַע סוּסִים אִם־יַחֲרוֹשׁ בַּבְּקָרִים כִּי־הֲפַכְתֶּם לְרֹאשׁ מִשְׁפָּט וּפְרִי צְדָקָה לְלַעֲנָה׃   6:12

Amos 6:12   “Would horses run at a cliff,

                                   or one plow among the herds?

                       Yet you turn justice to gall,

                                   and the fruit of righteousness to wormwood.”

Amos is here contrasting two unlikely situations, that of horses running off a cliff and a farmer plowing in the midst of his herds, to the evil -- foolish -- acts of which the well-to-do are constantly guilty.

הַשְּׂמֵחִים לְלֹא דָבָר הָאֹמְרִים הֲלוֹא בְחָזְקֵנוּ לָקַחְנוּ לָנוּ קַרְנָיִם׃   6:13

Amos 6:13   “Rejoicers in what is nothing, saying,

                                   ‘Have we not taken horns for ourselves

                       by our own strength?’”!

כִּי הִנְנִי מֵקִים עֲלֵיכֶם בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל נְאֻם־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי הַצְּבָאוֹת גּוֹי וְלָחֲצוּ אֶתְכֶם מִלְּבוֹא חֲמָת   6:14        עַד־נַחַל הָעֲרָבָה׃

Amos 6:14   “’For behold, I am raising up a nation against you, house of Israel,’ declares the Lord, the God of hosts, ‘and they shall oppress you from the entering of Hamath to the brook of Arabah.’”

 

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